Ireland legend Kevin Kilbane believes the next Republic of Ireland management team should include Robbie Keane.
Ireland's record goalscorer hasn't hung up his boots yet but the Dubliner is making moves into the coaching world and has spent a number of years undertaking the requisite UEFA coaching courses to become a coach and manager.
The Irish Sun report that the FAI have kept in touch with Keane and are eager to have him contribute in some way to shaping the future of Irish football.
There are a number of former Ireland players involved in the FAI's underage structure including Mark Kinsella, Kevin Doyle and Richard Dunne.
The Ireland legend was on Friday's OTB AM along with Adrian and Eoin and he had no doubt that Robbie will have a big role to play:
“Would he go in with one of our junior sides, would he go in at 21s, would he go in at senior level? The way that it’s looking at senior level, you’re looking at someone like Robbie Keane and how vital he would be to a senior management staff.
“It just depends on where he wants to go, I know he’s done his badges and he definitely sees his next career step in coaching and hopefully it will be within our setup because we could do with him and I think it’s clear to see at the moment.”
Kilbane says the FAI don't need to delay bringing Keane in, his former teammate says they shouldn't wait to use him to form a new management team, the Ireland centurion reckons Robbie could be crucial now and may indeed help save Martin O’Neill’s bacon:
“Why not get him involved, why not have him helping the rest of the lads and learning from him, I think just because you’re a good player doesn’t mean you’ll be a good coach, we’re not saying Robbie will make Shane Long or Seani Maguuire a Robbie Keane overnight but just little nuggets of information he can give to them, that sort of thing could be vital and I feel it would be a great move.”
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